The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

Home alone, one Sunday morning, shortly before Christmas, all family happily occupied elsewhere. Bake the Christmas cake? Go for a run? Church, perhaps? Clean the house - such were my plans for a rare Sunday morning by myself. Instead I stayed in bed and picked up my pristine copy of "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas." I was hooked. I didn't stir from bed - except to make some toast - until twenty past twelve, which is totally unheard of for me. This was completely engrossing. For me, the scary bit was seeing it all through Bruno's eyes and trying to make sense of a child's world at at time of madness - plus of course, the adults' rationalising of the situation. Bruno's father was such a kind man, claims the maid, as if this absolves him from his current power hungry games. I guessed the ending when Bruno's dad shaved his head.Would I see the film? No. I have an intensely visual imagination and have had images of this story flashing vividly back in my mind at odd moments of the day and night, merely from having read the book. Would I read it to Year 6? No. Partly because of the subject matter, and partly because this book is very clever in that it is told through the eyes of a young child who is trying to decipher his very strange world. Would I recommend it to adults - unreservedly yes! Kate, St Josephs, Portishead, West of England project